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Racing fans were treated to a day of racing at Yas Marina Circuit this weekend as five local motor racing championships battled it out at the home of the FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX.
On Friday, Yas Racing Series was back with an action-packed programme of racing featuring five local, sustainable UAE championships. The TRD 86 Cup, Yas Marina Circuit’s first ever home grown single-make championship was back for Round Three and fans and spectators enjoyed some dramatic racing scenes as Karim Al Azhari and Sam Tehari went bumper to bumper to get first over the line.
Karim Al Azhari won Race One in 20 minutes and 37.786 seconds, nosing ahead of Sam Tehari by a mere 0.539 seconds, who crossed the line in 20 minutes and 38.325 seconds, with Ahmed Al Melaihi placing third in 20 minutes and 39.706 seconds.
The evenings racing again saw Karim Al Azhari narrowly triumph in Race Two, with a winning time of 20 mins, and 03.951 seconds, beating Ahmed Al Melaihi who finished in 20 minutes and 15.118 seconds, and Shibin Yousef who finished in 20 minutes and 20.871 seconds later to claim third.
Speaking of his TRD 86 Cup Round Two performance, overall winner, Karim Al Azhari, said: “Today has actually produced the toughest racing of the championship, the whole grid is getting stronger. I’m the experienced driver on the track and there’s nothing left between me and the competition so it’s really close and I’m having to work very hard which makes it even more exciting. At the moment I’ve won all my races but I’m not sure how much longer I can hang on”.
Following the weekend’s racing, Al Azhari remains at the top of the TRD 86 Cup leaderboard overall, with three rounds to go.
The TRD 86 Cup was created by Yas Motor Racing Club to nurture the growth of sustainable local motorsports.
In addition to TRD 86 Cup, Yas Racing Series also included the Formula Gulf 1000, the UAE’s national single-seater championship, featuring cars with identical slicks and wings, as well as UAE Time Attack – a highly dynamic race series that sees production-based sports cars compete for the fastest single lap.
Ahmad Al Ghanem took the top spot in the Formula Gulf 1000 championship. Al Ghanem took the chequered flag in Race One finishing in 22 minutes, 10.255 seconds, closely beating Yousaf Al Bader by a mere 0.479 seconds. Race Two saw Al Ghanem storm to victory once again in the faster time of 20 minutes and 01.012 seconds and Yousaf Al Bader runner up just 6.622 seconds later.
The return of UAE Time Attack saw three heats across the A, B, C and D categories. Racing against themselves and the clock, the fastest group lap times were as follows: In the Heat 1 Final (Groups C&D) the fastest lap was recorded by Ahmed Gamal at 1 minute, 10.527 seconds; Heat 1 Final (Groups A&B), saw Ahmad Arafat win out with a time of 1 minute and 5.253 seconds;
Ahmad Gamal and Ahmad Arafat again triumphed in the Heat 2 Finals, with Gamal topping Groups C&D, lapping in 1 minute 11.356 seconds, and Group A&B’s Ahmad Arafat coming first with a time of 1 minute 5.526 seconds.
The Heat 3 Finals didn’t provide any surprises with Groups C&D once more claimed by Ahmad Gamal in 1 minute and 9.801 seconds, while Groups A&B was won by Ahmad Arafat, who was quickest in 1 minute 4.293 seconds.
The Radical Middle East Cup saw Tony Wells win in 45 minutes, 54.754 seconds with Romaine Lutter taking second place in 46 minutes, 12.229 seconds. Race Two produced another win for Tony Wells in 45 minutes and 50:035 seconds and again Romaine Lutter took second place in 46 minutes, 00:573 seconds.
Both races of the NGK series ended with the exact same result, with Greek driver Costas Papantonis winning twice with more than half a minute lead in 20 minutes and 29.500 seconds in Race One and 20 minutes and 21.893 seconds in Race Two.
Following the weekend’s racing, fans can now keep up with all the action on YasTV, a new motorsport channel dedicated to following local motorsport. Highlights from the weekend’s racing can be viewed at YasTV http://www.youtube.com/YasMarinaCircuit
The next round of the TRD 86 Cup will take place at Dubai Autodrome on Friday 20 March.
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